Lee Daniel’s film, titled The Butler, describes the life of African-American Louis Gaines and his time spent as a servant in the White House. However, while Gaines is not a real person, his story throughout the movie is mostly based on African-American Eugene Allen and his time as a servant to the White House. Eugene Allen was born on a plantation on July 14, 1919, in Scottsville, Virginia. When Allen became a young adult, he began working as a waiter at a Virginian resort (cite). He then later moved to Washington, D.C., and found work at a country club. In 1942, he had met Helene Lee at a birthday party. The two talked, dated, and eventually got married the next year. The two then had a son named Charles Allen who currently works as an
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Although he wasn’t looking for work, he still applied and started working as a pantry worker in 1952. He later was promoted to being a butler. Eugene Allen served for 34 years and had seen eight presidents come and go, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. Eugene was very well appreciated by the presidents and staff. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Allen was emotionally impacted by the killing. He and his wife were even invited by Nancy Reagan to a dinner for West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Throughout the years of traveling with presidents and even a promotion to maître d', Eugene Allen retired from serving in the White House in 1986. Upon hearing about Obama’s presidential campaign, Helene and Eugene supported him all the way. They voted for him every day at voting polls. Unfortunately, Helene Allen died before she could see him become president. Eugene Allen followed suit, passing away from renal failure on March 31, 2010. In The Butler, the movie begins with Louis Gaines as a child on a plantation in Macon, Georgia in the 1920s. It depicts Gaines’ childhood, from the shooting of his father to him gaining servant experience in the house instead of the fields. Later, he earns jobs at a hotel restaurant, a country club, and then eventually lands the job at the White House. Alonzo Fields, a maître d’ at the White House, recruited Gaines to the job of a butler in
Although he wasn’t looking for work, he still applied and started working as a pantry worker in 1952. He later was promoted to being a butler. Eugene Allen served for 34 years and had seen eight presidents come and go, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. Eugene was very well appreciated by the presidents and staff. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Allen was emotionally impacted by the killing. He and his wife were even invited by Nancy Reagan to a dinner for West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Throughout the years of traveling with presidents and even a promotion to maître d', Eugene Allen retired from serving in the White House in 1986. Upon hearing about Obama’s presidential campaign, Helene and Eugene supported him all the way. They voted for him every day at voting polls. Unfortunately, Helene Allen died before she could see him become president. Eugene Allen followed suit, passing away from renal failure on March 31, 2010. In The Butler, the movie begins with Louis Gaines as a child on a plantation in Macon, Georgia in the 1920s. It depicts Gaines’ childhood, from the shooting of his father to him gaining servant experience in the house instead of the fields. Later, he earns jobs at a hotel restaurant, a country club, and then eventually lands the job at the White House. Alonzo Fields, a maître d’ at the White House, recruited Gaines to the job of a butler in